Tag Archives: Jesus

If we could realize the merit concealed in the actions of each moment of the day… if we understood that surrender to the will of God is the true philosopher’s stone that changes into divine gold all our occupations, troubles, and sufferings, what great consolation would be ours!

I read this the other day in The Joy of Full Surrender by Jean-Pierre de Caussaude (chapter 9, Holy Made Easy) and I immediately thought of King Midas.

I’m sure you have heard of King Midas. He was a king of great fortune who wished for – The Golden Touch, for everything he touched to be turned to gold. Initially he received his wish with great joy, running through his castle turning everything to gold, but his joy quickly turn to fear as he realized even the food he tried to eat turned to gold before reaching his mouth, and finally his fear became true horror when he turned his own daughter to gold by giving her a hug.

Isn’t it crazy how quickly the desires of our flesh that seem good, can be twisted and turned into horrors? Yet with the eyes of faith, a heart of love, and a true desire to fully surrender to the Will of God, we all gain The Golden Touch and everything we do is changed into divine gold in His Heavenly Realm.

Matthew 6:19-21Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Infinite – limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate.

Finite – having limits or bounds; possible to measure or calculate.

We have been given many things to help us comprehend the infinite, the sands of the earth, the drops of water in the ocean, the insects in the world, the seeds of the forests, the leaves of the trees. These things we know are finite, and yet not being able to count them gives us a tiny glimpse of infinity.

Many still debate whether our universe is infinite or finite, but I think this too is finite, yet so immense and still expanding that it offers us another glimpse of the infinite within the finite.

Without these glimpses of infinity within the finite, how could we ever hope to think outside of our box or bubble and contemplate the INFINITE Glory, Love, and Mercy of our sweet Lord?

Psalm 147: 4-5He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.

I was talking with my daughter about the beginning of the universe and gave her a very brief explanation of “The Big Bang Theory“.

After we finished talking she said, “I understand – it is just like a seed.” Hmm… I thought – I have never heard it compared to a seed, but I think she is right. I love this analogy!

Wouldn’t it be just like our sweet Lord to grow our whole universe from a tiny seed, next fill our world with seeds and the process of amazing things growing from seeds, then talk about seeds throughout the Bible and then patiently wait for a sweet little child to make the connection!!!

Our Lord is so AWESOME! I love the games of hide and seek and seek and find that He is ALWAYS playing with us!

Sweet Lord – I thank You for granting us such an amazing gift and privilege to fill Your Heavenly Courts with beautiful music when our hearts are aligned with Your Holy Will!

Matthew 18:19-20Jesus said, “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

Ephesians 5:18-19… be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord…

I often hear prayers for the Lord to put up a hedge of protection around people, schools, neighborhoods, and I get it – I long for my loved ones and friends to be safe too, but when I hear this prayer something in my heart remains unsettled.

I heard it again last week when a very sweet friend prayed for a hedge of protection to be placed around our children’s school. As I spent time mulling it over once again, I think His sweet whispers finally came through, and the thought came to me…

We have too many walls! We should instead let the ripples of love flowing out from our hearts unite with His infinite tsunami of love as it spreads out and breaks down the walls within the hearts of all who come near!

My sweet Lord – I pray for all who come near our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, our schools – any child in the whole world – to have the walls they have built in their hearts come crashing down allowing their hearts to once again be fully open to Your Mercy and Grace.

One of my daughters is beginning to study the human body. Last weekend we were studying some of the definitions.Cell and Nucleus (pl. Nuclei) were two of the words.

Cell – The basic unit of all living things.Nucleus – The central part of most cells that contains genetic material.

As we were studying, she started thinking about how she used believe that her body was full of little people doing all of the work inside. When she was little used to talk about “Pooper pushers” and “Mrs. Wishy Washy” and the different jobs they did in her body. She told me towards the end of studying that it was awesome to hear that all of these little people really existed, and now she knew that they were called cells.

After savoring this sweet and precious memory, I started thinking about all of our cells as people too. I wondered about their individual wills within each nucleus, and I wondered if I ask all of the little people (cells) in my body to collectively turn their nuclei towards the Will of Our Heavenly Father – what might happen?

Obviously I don’t know the answer to this, but I think if every cell in my body is aligned with the Holy Will of Our Heavenly Father, it would be more difficult for me as a whole person to fall out of alignment with His Holy Will.

Sweet Lord, I pray to surrender to You at the most basic level of my body, and I pray that as my inner nuclei align with Your Holy Will I am given a New Clear Eye allowing my whole body to be full of Your Light.

Matthew 6:22The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

This morning I woke up struggling with a conversation I had yesterday regarding my belief and thoughts on a topic that I had prayed, read and thought about for quite some time. I woke up wondering if I was being closed minded, hard hearted, and proud. In search of an answer I prayed, “Sweet Lord, please align both of us with Your Holy Will and please lead me to what You would like me to read this morning.”

After this prayer, I looked aimlessly through the books scattered around our house, and then finally decided to complete a few questions in my Bible study. After looking for my bag, I remembered that I had left it in the car. When I opened the door to retrieve it, I found page 16 from my disintegrating copy of The Joy of Full Surrender by Jean-Pierre de Caussade laying beside my bag and Chapter 8 jumped out at me.

It read…

Who is the Most Holy?

The will of God gives a supernatural and divine value to everything of the soul that is submitted to it. All the duties God’s will imposes, all those contained in it, all the matters it touches, become holy and perfect, because the will of God is unlimited in power and makes everything it touches divine.

Thank You my Sweet Lord – I submit myself again to You and pray to continually submit myself every day, every hour, every minute, every second for the rest of my life.

Please my sweet Lord – let us not forget that we must first raise our white flags in full surrender of ourselves to YOU before we can be truly washed clean and made pure and white as snow.

Isaiah 1:16-18Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.Cease to do evil,Learn to do good;Seek justice,Rebuke the oppressor;Defend the fatherless,Plead for the widow.

“Come now, and let us reason together,”Says the Lord,“Though your sins are like scarlet,They shall be as white as snow;Though they are red like crimson,They shall be as wool.”

Isn’t it interesting that when things are going well we can so easily be lulled, like a sleeping baby, into believing that we have strong and great faith, yet in times like this we are most susceptible to the bubble of faith. Our bubble grows fast, it quickly becomes big and is so colorful and beautifully round – it is a delight for both ourselves and others to see. We fill it with air, words, talk and so much more – so it will keep growing, but oh how quickly it pops at the first signs of trial and we are left with what is REAL and TRUE- maybe a seed, but probably something even smaller.

Oh Lord – to have faith the size of a mustard seed! Please give us each a real and true seed of faith and then, my Love, please teach us how to garden. Gardeners know that most tiny seeds must be planted and kept in the dark as they begin to grow. Please protect us, keep us hidden in the dark as our roots of faith begin to grow and let us not boast in anything, but especially not in any faith that might appear on the surface for we know that our true faith lies within our deep roots. We know that the deep roots will not only withstand the storms and trials of life but will become stronger with each storm – reminding us yet again of the Joy of Suffering.

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Colossians 2: 6-7

When two opposing lines, a vertical line and a horizontal line, intersect they create a cross – just like the cross our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was crucified on. On that ancient cross, at that intersection, heaven and earth collided, yet we forget… opposites and intersections are a part of our everyday lives and I think heaven can be found at these intersections.

My friends – seek the intersections, seek the opposites and when you find them fall to your knees in worship, prayer and gratitude as if you were before that very first intersection, the cross carrying our sweet and precious Lord, Jesus.

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
– Luke 23:46